“We do not seek to impose our way of life on anyone, but rather to let it shine as an example for everyone to follow,” President Donald Trump Jr. declared in his inauguration speech.

“We will seek friendship and goodwill with the nations of the world -- but we do so with the understanding that it is the right of all nations to put their own interests first.”

The statement essentially portends an American foreign policy, which is less focused on promotion of human rights and democracy and more sensitive to prerogatives of nation building. In effect, we may very well see an America that is more insular, self-interested, and isolationist than we have been used to in the past seven decades since the end of World War II.

In a strange turn of events, Duterte may have found a sympathetic soul in the White House. No wonder then, the Philippine president was full of praise for Trump (and beauty of his wife, Melania) “It was a very superb ritual and Trump was at his best,” Duterte affectionately described Trump’s poorly-attended inauguration speech, which was accompanied by one of the biggest women protests in recent memory.

In recent months, Duterte has not only changed his views on Trump, but also vis-à-vis relations with America. Before the billionaire-celebrity’s shocking electoral victory, Duterte even dismissed Trump as a ‘bigot’. But he immediately began to sing to a different tune once it was clear that Trump would be America’s 45th president.

“I don’t want to fight now that Trump’s there. I would like to congratulate President Trump,” Duterte declared right after the fateful November elections in America. “May you live, Mr. Trump! We both curse at the slightest of reason. We are alike.”

Over the next three months, Duterte, who the Western media once dubbed as the “Trump of the East”, consistently emphasized how he finds a kindred spirit in the new occupant of the White House. Beyond personal chemistry and rapport, what lies at the heart of Duterte’s optimistic anticipation of the Trump presidency is the high possibility of a turnabout in American foreign policy, particularly on human rights issues. In fact, this was the main bone of contention between Manila and the Obama administration in the past six months.

Citing human rights concerns vis-à-vis Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’, Trump’s predecessor began withholding delivery of American firearms to the Philippine National Police as well as threatened to nix a $400 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) aid package.

The Duterte administration returned the favor with sound and fury, including expletives against American leaders, and pushed ahead with scaling joint exercises with the American, namely the joint U.S.-Philippine Amphibious Landing Exercise (PHIBLEX) and Cooperation float Readiness and Training Exercise (Carat). Under Trump, this toxic dynamic will more likely change.

To begin with, “art of the deal” Trump isn’t known as a human rights advocate. He has also made it clear, so far, that he isn’t interested in prioritizing ideology over interest in American foreign policy. If anything, he himself is seen as a strongman populist with limited respect for America’s democratic institutions and values.

His Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson’s repeatedly refused to categorize the Duterte administration as a human rights violator during a particularly grueling confirmation hearing at the Senate. During his cordial phone conversation with the Filipino president in December, Trump, according to Duterte, even expressed support for the Philippines’ campaign against illegal drugs. The Trump team never denied this.

Frayed bilateral communication channels are also expected to recover with vengeance. Duterte made the astute choice of appointing Trump’s business partner in Manila, Jose Antonio, who owns the Trump tower in the Philippine capital, as his special envoy to Washington D.C. Given how the Trump family has unabashedly mixed politics and business in recent months, this pre-existing business ties could come hand and pave the way for establishment of a more direct and intimate line between Malacanang and the White House.

America’s new Ambassador to Manila, Sung Kim, a Korean-born career diplomat who previously held the portfolio of high-stakes negotiation experience with North Korea, also seems to be the perfect fit to handle tricky bilateral relations with feisty allies like Duterte.

At this point, there are sufficient reasons to expect a turnabout in Duterte’s relations with America. In fact, he has given the go ahead to Americans to upgrade their rotational military bases in the Philippines under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA). Surely though, as a cautionary note, given the mercurial and large-than-life character of both Duterte and Trump, it must be said that if things go wrong between the two men at some point -- they can go really wrong.